Look beyond the IIMs

Options for MBA courses apart from the IIMs reports Kavita Iyer

educationUpdated: Jul 14, 2010 10:49 IST

Kavita Iyer Hindustan Times

Most students want to build a flourishing career in management. The ticket to that dream is getting admitted into a premier B- school. Quite obviously, most aspirants want to do their MBA from the most prestigious institutes in the country like the IIMs. This year for example, there have been close to three lakh MBA aspirants who wish to get into the IIMs with dreams of enviable designations and well-paying jobs. However, getting that much-desired seat has become that much tougher. What the students need to realise is that, outside the IIMs, there are other management institutes in India offering top quality programmes that can help them realise their big MBA dream. Here are some of them.

Do note, that while the list below is not exhaustive and not in any particular order, it will give MBA aspirants a fair idea of the some of the best colleges in the country outside of the IIMs.

Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur - Nearly 60 years old, XLRI is one of the most well-known management institutes in India. XLRI’s admission process is through the XAT Entrance exam.

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai- Is an autonomous institute. The admission to S P Jain is based on the CAT, XAT and GMAT score. This is the USP of S.P Jain which in turn implies that one can use any of these scores to attain admission to the college Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon is one of the top business schools in India. It was established in 1973 and is located in the heart of Gurgaon, the commercial hub near New Delhi. The college is known for its high standards of students and international collaborations.

Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi is part of the prestigious Delhi University -which comprises of some of the finest departments in Economics, Law, Sociology, Commerce and Operations Research. By collaborating with other departments the college is able give its students the benefit of a much wider view and deeper understanding. FMS has an entrance exam of its own.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi and Kolkata, was set up in 1963 by the government as an autonomous organisation to help professionalise the country’s foreign trade management and increase exports by developing human resources. IIFT has its own entrance exam.

Institute of Management Technology (IMT) has branches in Ghaziabad, Nagpur and Dubai. It has moulded itself according to the fast changing business and social environment over the last 25 years. Admission to IMT is through the CAT exam

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune, is a constituent of Symbiosis International Educational Centre. SIBM was established in 1978.

Entrance to SIBM is through the Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai, is one of India’s leading management institutes and is now part of a Deemed University by the same name, Narsee Monjee University. NMIMS has its own entrance exam.

Loyola Institute of Business Administration ( LIBA), Chennai – established in 1979, by the Loyola College Society, is a premier management institute known for its academic excellence and value-based education. Both part-time and full-time PGDM programmes are approved by the AICTE and the full-time programme is recognised by the AIU as equivalent to the MBA degree of Indian Universities. Admission to LIBA is through XAT.

Tests outside of CAT that you need to watch out for: In order to get into these colleges mentioned above, you can consider appearing for some of the other MBA entrance exams mentioned below - XLRI Admission Test (XAT) - The XAT exam evaluates students on aptitude, English knowledge and essay writing. There are about 60 colleges that accept the XAT Score. Some of the top Colleges being XLRI, LIBA, XIMB, S P Jain etc.

Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) -. Scores of SNAP are essential for admission into the postgraduate institutes of the Symbiosis International University. About 15 management institutes under Symbiosis International University accept the SNAP scores.